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Sastra Prathibha Awards 2014-15

Science International Forum (SIF) announced the results of its first Sastra Prathibha Contest in Kuwait. Top

scoring 14 students who appeared the exam in two categories were declared ‘Sastra Prathibha’. The win-

ners from each class will be honored with ‘Sastra

Prathibha’ title. The prestigious ‘Acharya J.C.Bose

Sastra Puraskar’ for the best school is secured by

Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan (IES), Kuwait. 67 students

from various Indian schools in Kuwait who wrote

the exam in two categories were declared outstand-

ing performers. The awards will be distributed at the

Science Gala Event, which is scheduled on 28th

March, 2015 at American International School. The

chief guest for the event is Padmabhooshan Dr. Vi-

jay Bhatkar and Prof.Sivdas. The 14 Sastra

Prathibhas will have a personal interaction session

with Dr. Vijay Bhatkar. Other eminent academic and

scientific personalities from India and Kuwait are

also expected to attend the function.

SASTRA PRATHIBHA

Gauri Prasanth(DPS)

Kartikey Arora(DPS)

KarthikSudheer (Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan)

Chrissa Oommen (Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan)

Diana Vinod Thomas (Carmel)

Neha Elizabeth Thomas (Carmel)

Athulya Jeeva (Indian Central Scool)

Swaraj Challa (DPS)

Sonal Bera (United Indian School)

Karthikeyan Suresh (ICSK Senior)

Anirudha Ramesh(Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan)

Aashi Ashuthosh (DPS)

Josephine Crystal Mathew (United Indian School)

Akshaya Srinivasan (Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan)

Issue 01 April, 2015

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2

What is SIF-Kuwait?

Science International Fo-

rum-Kuwait is a voluntary

organization formed and

supported by professionals

in the fields of Science and

Technology, Education,

and a few Philanthropists

and prominent members of

business community in Ku-

wait. SIF-Kuwait is the of-

ficial representative of Na-

tional Science Movement/

Vijnana Bharati in Kuwait.

Objectives:

· Introduce India’s rich sci-

entific heritage to the youth

in order to kindle scientific

temperament within them.

· Identify and appreciate

students with a flair for sci-

ence and technology.

· Motivate the young gen-

eration to take up science

as a career and encourage

them to contribute towards

INDIA VISION 2020.

Nayudamma Award 2014 given jointly to

Dr. Tessy Thomas and Geeta Varadan

Nayudamma Award: Established in 1986 in memory of distinguished chemical scientist, leather technolo-

gist and former Director-General of CSIR Yelavarthy Nayudamma. Presented annually to persons who

have created vital contributions to the development of science and technology in the country.

Women scientists Dr. Tessy Thomas and Geeta Varadan on February 15th

2015 were jointly named for Dr. Y

Nayudamma Memorial Award

2014. They have been chosen for

the award for their outstanding

performance within the field of

science and technology. Ramon

Magsaysay award recipient prof.

Shanta Sinha presented the award

to Dr. Tessy Thomas and Geeta Varadan at a special function to be orga-

nized at Tenali in Guntur district of

Andhra Pradesh in March 2015.

This is the 1st time in the history of

the trust that 2 eminent women scien-

tists are being concurrently honoured.

The recipients will deliver the twenty

third Dr. Y Nayudamma Memorial

Lectures on the themes make in India

-Defence needs and Initiatives and

Remote Sensing Technology for National needs respectively.Dr. Tessy

Thomas is the Drector, Advanced Systems Laboratory of the Defence re-

search and Development Organization (DRDO), Hyderabad and Geeta

Varadan is the Project Director (Mission) of Agni V, and Director, Ad-

vanced data processing research Institute at ISRO. World noted astrophys-

ics scientist and astronomer Jayant Vishnu Narlikar was presented with the

Nayudamma Award 2013.

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3

Dr BG Sidharth: Man of Science, Born Ahead

of His Time, Know the man who proposed

that black holes do not exist !

Hyderabad-based renowned astrophysicist Dr

BG Sidharth has questioned the existence of

Black Holes for over a decade and his theory has

been confirmed recently by globally renowned

scientists, including famed physicist Stephen

Hawking himself.

Founder, director-general of the BM Birla Science

Centre in Hyderabad, Sidharth is also the convener

and co-chairman (with Nobel laureates professor DD

Osheroff and professor C Cohen-Tannoudji) of the

prestigious Frontier of Fundamental Physics Interna-

tional Symposium series that has been held in Asia,

Europe North America and Australia.

“Black Holes do not exist and I have been writing on

this for several years,” says the 66-year-old scientist.

“Now, what’s interesting is that Stephen Hawking is

himself saying that Black Holes do not exist. If they

exist at all that would have to be of the supermassive

type, millions of times as massive as the Sun. Such

supermassive Black Holes are believed to be at the

centre of galaxies,” he explains.

He was conferred with the Einstein-Galilei Laureate

and Gold Medal of Institute for Theoretical Physics

and Advanced Mathematics and Galileo Telesio of

Italy 2013, which he shared with Nobel laureate pro-

fessor DDOsheroff. He also received Italy’s highest

honour to non-Italians, Knight-Commander of the

Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity in 2006.

In 1997, when the standard Big Bang model was the

accepted theory with the universe believed to be

slowing down due to dark matter, Sidharth put for-

ward his theory that the universe was actually accel-

erating and was dominated by something called dark

energy. Today dark energy is the new paradigm and

the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics went to three astron-

omers for this discovery. And yet, Sidharth’s contri-

butions were left unnoticed. The scientist, however,

laments the present state of the scientific scenario in

India and feels that the West is miles ahead.

“Unfortunately, Indians do not excel at what they do.

We are very lax and have a ‘Chalta Hai’ attitude.

This is the case across the country. As Bernard Shaw

says ‘If it is worth doing a thing at all, then it is

worth doing it well’,” he says.

Asked if he fears his life’s work would be rejected,

Sidharth smiles and says, “Whatever I’ve done,

whether it is accepted or not, I enjoyed doing it and I

derived immense satisfaction from it. In the end,

that’s all that matters.”

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4

Aryabhatta knew about gravity before Isaac

Newton: ex-ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair

One of the country's leading scientists and for-

mer ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair today

propounded the theory that some shlokas in the

Vedas mentioned about presence of water on

the moon and astronomy experts like Ary-

abhatta knew about gravitational force much

before Isaac Newton.

The 71-year-old Padma Vibhushan awardee

said the Indian vedas and ancient scriptures also had

information on metallurgy, algebra, astronomy,

maths,

architecture and astrology way before the western

world knew about them. Speaking at an international

conference on Vedas, he however, added that the

information in vedas was in a "condensed format"

which made it difficult for the modern science to ac-

cept it.

"Some sholkas in one of the Vedas say that there is

water on the moon but no one believed it. Through

our Chandrayaan mission, we could establish that

and we were the first ones to find that out," Nair

said, adding that everything in Vedas could not be

understood as they were in chaste Sanskrit.

He also talked very highly about fifth century astron-

omer- mathematician Aryabhatta saying, "We are

really proud that Aryabhatta and Bhaskara have done

extensive work on planetary work and exploration of

outer planets. It was one of the challenging fields.

"Even for Chandrayaan, the equation of Aryabhatta

was used. Even the (knowledge of) gravitational

field. Newton found it some 1500 years later. the

knowledge existing (in our scriptures)," he said.

Nair, who was ISRO chairman from 2003-09, also

claimed geometry was used to make

calculations for building cities during the Harappan

civilization and the Pythagorean theorem also exist-

ed since the Vedic period.

The comments by Nair came in the backdrop of

many BJP leaders talking about ancient Indian scrip-

tures having scientific information including on plas-

tic surgery as well as aero-dynamics.

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5

Indian scientists clone near ex-

tinct wild buffalo

Scientists at the National Dairy Research

Institute (NDRI) here successfully cloned a

critically endangered wild buffalo found in

Chhattisgarh. Only one female Asiatic wild

water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) survives in

Chhattisgarh's Udanti-Sitanadi tiger re-

serve and forest officials have confined it

in semi-captivity.

NDRI scientists conducted a biopsy on its

ear tissue and took it to a laboratory at

Karnal for cell proliferation. The cells were

used for the cloning process using an in-

digenously developed hand-guided tech-

nique. "The calf, named Deepasha by the

scientists, had a normal birth weight of 32

kilograms, is healthy and active," NDRI

Director A.K. Srivastava told the Indian

Science Journal, adding: "We have the

necessary expertise and infrastructure to

multiply this endangered species."

The Asiatic wild water buffalo is restricted

to South and Southeast Asia. The species is

critically endangered due to high anthro-

pogenic pressure ranging from habitat

deterioration to hybridization with domes-

tic buffaloes. The cloning was carried out

at the request of the Chhattisgarh govern-

ment.

Srivastava said the calf will be handed over

to the Chhattisgarh wildlife authorities for

releasing into wild after a particular age.

NDRI had recently cloned the famous high

-yielding Murrah bull variety - the world's

first such.

Srivastava said that over the years, NDRI

has developed reasonably good facilities in

buffalo reproduction with a dedicated

team of scientists who specialize in pro-

duction of stem cells, in vitro embryo pro-

duction and trans-genesis.

Ayurveda's healing powers: Top US research institutions conduct-

ing mega study on traditional Indian medicine

A major study on Ayurveda's heal-

ing powers is being conducted at the

Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Cal-

ifornia by looking at the genetic and

cellular response to a whole systems

approach on health and well-being.

The research is titled Self-Directed

Biological Transformation Initiative

(SBTI) Research Study. It will measure the total effects of an intensive

immersion into a systemic program to check for a person's connection

to the healing process. It will study genes, hormones, bacteria response,

inflammation markers, weight, stress makers etc. in participants who

will be split into groups that receive medicine and control groups who

do not.

The study involves top research and medical institutions in the US-

Harvard University, Scripps Clinic, University of California San Diego,

Mt Sinai University, University of California San Francisco and Duke

University, reports the Times of India. Most traditional medicine and

therapies are not done in isolation, where the focus is on symptoms

alone.

"The body's healing system is still little understood because of the com-

plex inputs - thoughts, emotions, diet, stress, exercise, immune response

- that affect healing. The picture is further clouded when isolated find-

ings overlap or contradict one another. In the context of Ayurveda, ther-

apies and practices aren't done in isolation. Instead of focusing on local

symptoms, the diagnosis is systemic. Only now is Western medicine

beginning to understand that a blanket condition like 'stress' or

'inflammation' connects many diverse disorders, including heart disease,

cancer, and diabetes," says Deepak Chopra.

The study is also an attempt to scientifically establish the efficacy of

Ayurveda which is largely seen as pseudoscience. Commenting on the

beneficial gene activity of ashwagandha, one of Ayurveda's primary

medicine, on Alzheimer, Dr Rudolf Tanzi, a professor at the Harvard

University and a co-researcher at the SBTI study says, "Any scientist of

worth will admit that most of time we are wrong. Just look back at sci-

ence 100 years ago and ask how much is still correct today. Why would

this not continue to be the case 100 years from now? Thus, it makes

sense to look back to ancient remedies and wisdom, for example, as

prescribed in Ayurveda medicine."

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6

Dr Vijay Bhatkar , one of the

most acclaimed scientist and IT

leader in India, awarded

Padmabhushan

He is best known as the architect of India's

first supercomputer and as the founder

Executive Director of C-DAC, India's na-

tional initiative in supercomputing. He is

credited with the creation of several na-

tional institutions, notably amongst them

being C-DAC, ER&DC, IIITM-K, I2IT, ETH

Research Lab, MKCL and India Interna-

tional Multiversity.

He has been a Member of Scientific Advi-

sory Committee to Cabinet of Govt of In-

dia, Governing Council Member of CSIR,

India and eGovernace Committee Chair-

man of Governments of Maharashtra and

Goa.

A Fellow of IEEE, ACM, CSI,INAE and

leading scientific, engineering and profes-

sional societies of India, he has been hon-

ored with Padmashri and Maharashtra

Bhushan awards. Other recognitions in-

clude Saint Dnyaneshwar World Peace

Prize, Lokmanya Tilak Award , HK Firodia

and Dataquest Lifetime Achievement

Awards, and many others. He was a nomi-

nee for Petersburg Prize and is a Distin-

guished Alumni of IIT,Delhi.

Dr Bhatkar has authored and edited 12

books and 80 research & technical papers.

His current research interests include Ex-

ascale Supercomputing, AI, Brain-Mind-

Consciousness, and Synthesis of Science &

Spirituality.

He is presently the Chancellor of India

International Multiversity, Chairman of

ETH Research Lab, Chief Mentor of I2IT,

and National President of Vijnan Bharati.

India successfully test-fires nuclear capable Agni 5 missile canister

version

India on successfully test-fired its indigenously developed, interconti-

nental surface-to-surface nuclear capable ballistic missile 'Agni-5',

which has a strike range

of over 5000 kms and can

carry a nuclear warhead of

over one tonne, from

Wheeler's Island off Od-

isha coast.

The three stage, solid pro-

pellant "missile was test-

fired from a mobile

launcher from the launch

complex-4 of the Integrat-

ed Test Range (ITR) at about 8.06 hours," ITR Director M V K V Pra-

sad said. Prasad told that the canister version of Agni-5 missile was suc-

cessfully test launched. "The missile, witnessed a flawless 'auto launch'

and detailed results will be known after all data retrieved from different

radars and network systems." An eye-witness said, "The sleek missile,

just within a few seconds of its blast-off from the Island launchpad

roared majestically into a clear sunny sky leaving behind in its trajectory

a trail of thin orange and white column of smoke and within seconds it

pierced the sky".

This launch was the third developmental trial of the long range missile.

The first test was conducted on 19 April, 2012 and the second test on 15

September, 2013 from the same base. The indigenously developed sur-

face-to-surface missile Agni-5 is capable of striking a range more than

5000 km. It is about 17 meters long, 2 metres wide and has a launch

weight of around 50 tonnes. The missile can carry a nuclear warhead of

more than one tonne. Unlike other missiles of Agni series, the latest one

'AGNI-5', is most advanced having some new technologies incorporated

with it in terms of navigation and guidance, warhead and engine, Prasad

said.

"Lot of new technologies developed indigenously were successfully test-

ed in the first Agni-5 trial. The very high accuracy Ring Laser Gyro

based Inertial Navigation System (RINS) and the most modern and ac-

curate Micro Navigation System (MINS) had ensured the Missile reach

the target point within few meters of accuracy.

"The high speed onboard computer and fault tolerant software along

with robust and reliable bus guided the missile flawlessly," said an offi-

cial. India has at present in its armory of Agni series, Agni-1 with 700

km range, Agni-2 with 2000 km range, Agni-3 and Agni-4 with 2500

km to more than 3500 range. After a few more trials, Agni-5 will be in-

ducted into the services.

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7

Indian scientists design morphine replacement

for pain therapy

In a breakthrough that could impact the blurring

realms of pain and pleasure, Indian scientists have

designed a potential morphine replacement, sans the

side effects of addiction, but loaded with pain-killing

power. For nearly four millennia, morphine and its

cousin compounds (opioids) have ruled the roost in

terms of their extraordinary prowess to dull pain

(analgesics). Morphine (sulphate) is a by-product of

opium which is extracted from poppy plants.

"Its pain relieving property is very high because of

its strong binding to the opioid receptor but it also

has a high risk for abuse. It has addiction property

like heroin but not as strong. In addition, it may

cause breathing problems," Surajit Sinha, associate

professor in the organic chemistry department at the

Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science in

Kolkata, told IANS.

Sinha and his team considered a plant-derived com-

pound called ibogaine, popular in African folk medi-

cine and known for its anti-addictive properties and

pain-killing effects, but notorious for its psychedelic

(hallucinogenic) reaction. It is illegal in countries

like Norway and strictly regulated in the US.

"We synthesized an ibogaine analogue in our labora-

tory from scratch and saw that when mice was treat-

ed with 40 mg/kg dose of the new substance, it could

provide pain relief for more than 50 minutes. "When

treated with morphine at a dose of 10 mg/kg, dura-

tion was 45 minutes, which is lesser than the novel

substance," said Sinha.

The screening was done in collaboration with Su-

mantra Das's lab in the neurobiology department at

the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology in

Jadavpur. The researchers have applied for patent

and are now working towards lowering the dose and

studying other properties, including effects in the

nervous system.

The larger picture, according to Sinha, lies in aug-

menting pain therapy and palliative care in India.

M.R. Rajagopal, a leading palliative care expert, said

major barriers to access to opioids are complicated

regulations and problems related to attitude and

knowledge regarding pain relief and opioids among

professionals and the public.

"Any invention like that would be a godsend," said

Rajagopal, chairman of Pallium India in Thiruvanan-

thapuram, told IANS via email and over telephone.

Rajagopal spearheaded the procedure leading to the

Amendment of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic

Substances (NDPS) Act of India in 2014, which will

help ease access to morphine-based drugs through

uniform regulation across states for giving out li-

censes to manufacture morphine-based drugs.

"A common state rule will be announced by the cen-

tral government. But it has not been done yet. It is a

procedural delay. Once they announce the rules, the

rules will be simpler - only if the states implement it.

"Changing the law alone is not going to make a big

difference unless it is implemented," said Rajagopal,

who is also the director of the WHO's Collaborating

Centre for Training and Policy on Access to Pain

Relief.

Currently, 13 states in India and one union territory

have simplified regulations, but opioid availability

has improved only in a few of these states, he said.

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8

Events

Annual Science Gala, 2015

Teachers Workshop

28th March, 2015, American International School, Hawally, @ 4.00

PM

Prof: S Shivadas, an eminent educational expert with five decades

of experience and the author of more than 160 science books, will

grace the evening with his thought provoking, motivating speeches

and presentations. He is a National Award holder by the National

Council for Science & Technology Communication, Government of

India.

Sastra Prathibha Award Ceremony

28th

March, 2015, American International School, Hawally, @ 6.30

PM

The chief guest for the evening :

Padmabhooshan Dr.Vijay Bhatkar, Chairman of the

Governing Council, IIT Delhi, and India's leading IT

expert., Inventor of PARAM Super computers.

Prof: S Shivadas, an eminent educational expert with

five decades of experience and the author of more

than 160 science books. National Award holder by

the National Council for Science & Technology

Communication, Government of India.

Presentation

28th March, 2015, American International School, Hawally, @ 7.00

PM

Speaker: Prof: S Shivadas

Subject: ‘Mastering Science & Technology for Mastering the

Human Brain & Unravel the Immense Potential’.

“To raise new questions, new

possibilities, to regard old

problems from a new angle,

requires creative imagination

and marks real advance in sci-

ence”

Albert Einstein

Discover

ISSUE 01 APRIL, 2015

Science International Forum, Kuwait

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